Doffing and donning apparatus



Dec. 10, 1946. J. H. DAUGHDRILL ErAL 2,412,444

DOFFING-AND DONNING' APPARATUS l FiledApril 5o, 194e 4 Sheets-Sheet lINvENTon. JAMES H. DAuCu-mmu. Roawr E Jess BV/raa M y TToflNExs DMn 1o,1946.

.J. H. DAUGHDRILL ETAL 2,412,444 DOFFING' AND DONNING APPARATUS FiledApril 30, 194e 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec- 10, 1946 J. H. DAUGHDRILL ErAL.

i DOFFING AND DONNING APPARATUS Filed April 50, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 34Dec. 10, 1946.

J. H. DAUGHDRILL ErAL 2,412,444.

DOFFING AND DONNING APPARATUS Filed April so, 1946 4 sheet's-sheei 4FIG.

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ATTQQNEYS Patented Dec. 10, i946 DOFFING AND DONNING APPARATUS James H.Daughdrill, Dalton, and Robert F. Jessen, La Grange, Ga., assignors toCallaway Mills, La Grange, Ga., a corporation of Georgia ApplicationApril 30, 1946, Serial No. 666,138

Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for use in performing dofng anddonning operations in connection with textile machines provided withspindles on which cores, such as bobbins, cops, spools, etc., aremounted for rotation, so that yarn may be wound thereon. Moreparticularly, the invention is concerned with a novel apparatus by theuse of which full cores may be removed from the spindles of such amachine and empty cores may be mounted on the spindles, the newapparatus being of simple, inexpensive construction and easy to operate,so that it can be employed efficiently by an operator who does notpossess a high degree of manual dexterity. The new apparatus may beutilized for dofiing and donning textile machines of various kinds, as,for example, spinning frames, quillers, etc., but, since it may beemployed to special advantage in connection with spinning frames, a formof the apparatus suitable for such use will be illustrated and describedin detail for purposes of explanation.

Heretofore, the operations of doftlng and donning the bobbins ofspinning frames have been commonly performed by hand, and, since theframes are idle during the periods when those operations are going on,it is important that a doffer should be highly skilled and able to workrapidly and efficiently, so that the inevitable loss of production willbe kept as low as possible. As skilled doffers are not always available,the desirability of developing an apparatus by which doling and donningcould be carried on by an unskilled operator has long been recognizedand some attempts have been made to devise such apparatus. However,either because of the complexity of the proposed apparatus or for otherreasons, the previous efforts to solve the problem have met with littleor no success and, so far as we are aware, no doiiing and donningequipment has been employed to any considerable extent in this countryup to the present.

The apparatus of the invention is manually operated and it may beconstructed to operate on any number of spindles from a single spindleup to the total on an entire side of a frame. The apparatus includes acarriage which is mounted for movement vertically and also horizontallyin a direction transverse to the row of spindles on the machine. Also,in oneform of the apparatus, the carriage is movable lengthwise of therow of spindles and, for this purpose, it may be suspended from a trackmounted permanently above the level of the operators head at the frontof the machine but is preferablyv mounted on' a truck that can be movedalong the machine. The carriage is provided with means by which one ormore full cores on the spindles can be gripped upon lowering of thecarriage and can be removed when the carriage is raised. The carriagealso carries means for supporting one or more empty cones in suchrelative positions that by lowering the carriage, such empty cores canbe mounted on the spindles. 'I'he new machine includes numerous otherfeatures to be described later, which facilitate its use.

,For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a View in front elevationand with parts broken away of one form of apparatus constructed inaccordance with the invention; l

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fie. 1;

Fig. 3 is a Yfragmentary rear elevationaly view, with parts broken away,of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, but on a larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a sectional viewv on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 4 showing different stages inthe operation of the apparatus;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary elevational View of the carriage of theapparatus;

Fig. 8 is a sectional View on the line 8-8 of Fig. '7; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional View onv the line 9 9 of Fig. 7.

The apparatus shown in the drawings is of the portable type andV isconstructed for cloning and donning a plurality of spindles in eachcycle of operation. The apparatus comprises a carriage I0 which, in theform shown, is a box-like structure, which may be made of light sheetmetal and comprises a bottom -wall II, a top wall I2, and walls I3. Thewalls are secured together in any convenient manner, as, for example,edge portions IIa and I2a of walls II and I2 may be folded to lieagainst the inner face of onewall I3 and be secured thereto, while theopposite edges of walls II and I2 abutthe inner face of the other wallI3 and are secured thereto by angle members I Il lying within thestructure and secured to the abutting walls.

The walls I3 extend upwardly from the bottom wall I I substantiallybeyond the top wall I2 and a plurality of spring clips I5 arranged inupper and lower rows are secured to the outer face of each wall I3.These clips are for holding empty bobbins I6 in vertical parallelrelation, and stepped stops I'I may be mounted 0n the under surfaces ofoutward flanges I3a on Walls i3 above the clips.

The stops are so formed and mounted that, when bobbins are placed in arow of clips with their upper ends against the stops or the undersurface of the flange i3d, successive bobbins in the row lie atdifferent levels and the bobbins form three series with the bobbins ineach series separated by a pair of bobbins, one in each of the other twoseries.

Aligned openings I8 are formed in the upper and lower walls Il, l2,respectively, of the carriage and these openings are large enough topermit a full-bobbin to be passed therethrough. The removal of the fullbobbins from the spindles is eiected by means of a pair'pigrippingbarsE9, which are Carried by arms 26a, 29h 'sum pended on pivot pins 2|carried by iittings 22 attached to Athe lower surface of the bottom wallI! of the carriage in spaced relation. The bars lI9 are urged towardeach other by springs 23 ,connecting each pair of arms 20a, 26h and thebars may be spread apart against the action of the springs sufficiently-to permit the yarn massesron full bobbins on the spindles kofthespinning frame to pass between the bars. The springs then move the barsinwardly beneath the yarn masses on the bobbins to gripjthe bobbins.

The carriage I is mounted for movement along the frame and may also bemoved vertically and toward'and away fromthe frame. In the constructionshown, thecarriage is rigidly mounted between the ylegs of a U-'shapedmember 2d, the crossbar of which is provided with a pluralityof eyes 24ato which are attached the -lower ends of the springs 25. The upper-endsof the springs are attached to one part of a swivelmember 2S, the otherpart'of which is attached to one leg of a U-shaped hanger 21'.' Theother leg of the hanger carries a roller 28 movable along atrack259;"With' the arrangement described, the spring mountingV for thecarriage permits the carriageto be moved up and down land toward andaway from the spinning frame and also to be rotated about the verticalaxis of the swivel member, so that-one or the other of the'sides of thecarriage mayface the frame. The track 29 may beV permanently installedin front of and above the level of the frame, or, as inthe'rconstruction disclosed, the trackmay be carried on a bracket 3Uattached to a standard 3l mounted in awheeled truck"32. The vtrackprojects beyond thev standard 3! at both sides of the latter, so that a`portion-ofthe trackoverlies the truckand another portion extends beyondtheend of the truck.

-A magazine 33 for-empty bobbins is mounted above the top 'of kthe bodyof the truck on members 34 and the magazine is made of front and rearwalls and endV walls and isl open at the top and bottom. v U-shapedvertical guides 35 made of sheet metalare mounted in opposed rela; tionon'the inner faces of its front and rear walls and the lower ends 3S lofthe'side walls of the guides are turned inwardlytoward one 'another toformf'spring fingers. The frontand rear walls of the magazine are spacedaV distance slightly greater than the length of a bobbin I 6 so that astack of bobbins llying Yhorizontally one above the other may bemounted'ineach vpair of aligned Yguides andrbe supported on the springfingers 35 at the lowerfends of the guides. `'The lowermost bobbinineach stack can then be readilymoved downwardly from between the guidesand past the fingers, while the otherbobbins in each stack are leftbehind. To facilitate removal of 'the Ybobbins from the magazineby'means to be ,de-

4 scribed, the rear wall of the magazine is cut away as indicated at 3lto expose ythe bores in the lcwermost bobbins in the stacks. l

The transfer of the bobbins from the magazine to the carriage f isperformed by means of a U-shaped frame 33, the legs of which arepivotally mounted on brackets 39 attached to the front wall of themagazine. The cross bar 38a of the frame is formed with a plurality ofopenings on a uniform spacing and stepped stops 4B, similar to'stops Il,are mounted on the upper face of theV bar il is mounted on frame 38outside of cross bar 38u-'and extends parallel to the latter. The barlll is lslightly longer than the cross bar and, at'its ends, itisprovided vwith rods l2 which extend parallel to the legs ofthe frameand lie outsidev the latter. The rods S42 pass through guides iS'on thelegs of the frame 'and the bar 'll may be moved toward Yand away fromcross bar 38a withl its movement limited by collars dil mounted 'on rods42 and lying between guides Q3. The barl is provided ywith a pair oflatch members 5 pivotally mounted thereon'and having hooked endsengageable with pins 46 projecting from the rear face ofrcross bar 38aand bar '4l carries a plurality of pins 41 entering the openings throughthe cross bar. When'bar di is moved close to the cross bar and the latchmembers l5 are engaged with their pins 46, the pins d? on bar 4| projectbeyond the inner face of the cross bar for substantially their entirelength. VWhen-the latch members 45 are unhooked from their pins,-bar4lmay be v,moved away from thecross bar. Vso'that theends oi"v pins 1 lie:iiu'sh.withthe'r inner face of the cross bar. Y

' The frame '3Bv may `be swung from a vertical positiont'o thehorizontal position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, provided barllll isunlatched fromcross bar 38u-and withdrawn as far as possible therefrom.V`When the frame is in the horizontal position shown in Fig. 4, the-endsof pins 41 YlieV aligned vwith the bores through 4the lowermostbobbins inthe magazine andby moving'bar'd! toward the cross bar, thepinsl'i may '.be introduced intol the' bores inthe bobbins. When bar 4lhas thus been moved towardcro'ss bar 38a and has been locked inpositionrelative theretoby the .latch members-45, frame 38`may be swungdownwardly f to its vertical positionv and, in this movement of theframe, the lpins Il? will remove. the `lowermost bobbinsy 'from vthestacksinithe magazine." f.

In lthe. use lfof `the Y apparatus described, `'the magazine is chargedYfwitl'1'ernpty bobbins and the clips on both faces ofthefoar'riagefar'e iilled with empty -bobbins by means of the transferframe 38 and its associated rparts inv-preliminary opera- ,p

tions. In such usev of the-transfer frame, it is swung vto 'horizontalposition as above described and bar JH ismovedftow-ard the magazinesothat empty bobbins are pickedupcn the 'pinsd'L after Thec'arriage' is.then moved downwardly Landi to-` ward the transfer frame, and the legsVof the frame are provided with guide membersllg, which may be engagedwith similar members 50 at the ends of the carriage, to hold thecarriage and frame in proper relation as the carriage is moved towardthe frame. As the carriage approaches the frame, the clips on the rearface of the carriage are forced past empty bobbins on the pins 41 on theframe and, when the bobbins are properly seated, the bar l is unlatchedfrom cross bar 38al and allowed to fall, so that the pins are withdrawnfrom the bobbins. The carriage may then be swung away from the frame andthe charging of the clips on one face of the carriage is completed. rIhecarriage is next turned end for end and the operations are repeated tofill the clips on the other face of the carriage.

When doiing of the textile machine is required, the machine is stopped,its rail is lowered, and the yarn ends are slackened 01T in the usualway. The truck is then moved to one end of the machine and the carriageis moved to the end of its track beyond the end of the truck and loweredby the attendant over a group of spindles at the end of the machine. Inthis downward movement of the carriage, the ends of the full bobbins onthe spindles pass between the bars i9 on the carriage and the bobbinsenter the aligned openings i3 in the upper and lower walls of the carriage. The bars i9 are sprung apart by engagement of the yarn masses onthe bobbins with the bars, and when these masses have passed beyond thebars, the latter swing in toward the bobbins. Upon raising of thecarriage, bars lli remove the full bobbins from the spindles. Thecarriage is next moved away from the machine slightly te bring the emptybobbins lin clips l5 on the rear face of the carriage in alignment withthe spindles. Upon the lowering of the'carriage, the empty bobbins areplaced upon the spindlesv and the carriage is then moved horizontallyaway from the spindles to free the bobbins on the spindles from theclips. The attendant next moves the carriage along its track to aposition over the truck and spreads bars i9 apart to let the fullbobbins supported on the bars drop into the body of the truck.

The clips I5 on a vertical wall of the carriage are spaced more closelythan thel spacing between spindles on the machine and, in the donningapparatus described, the spacing between adjacent bobbins held by theclips is one-third the spacing between adjacent spindles. Accordingly,in each donning operation, one-third of the empty bobbins are removedfrom the clips and,

when the carriage is fully charged, it carries a suicient number ofempty bobbins for six of the donning operations described. The carriagemay be made in sufficient length, so that when fully loaded, it willhold enough empty bobbins for the entire machine. Accordingly, thecarriage need not be charged with bobbins during the doiing and donningoperation, but the transfer of bobbins from the magazine to the carriagemay be effected while the machine is running.

In the foregoing, the new apparatus has been described in a formsuitable for use with a spinning frame, but it will be apparent, that itmay be employed with obvious alterations for use in dofling and donningany textile machine containing a single row of spindles. The term yarnas used herein is, accordingly, to be understood as applicable tovarious textile strands including yarn:

We' claim:

1. A dong anddonning apparatus for use with a textile machine having aspindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarn on thecore, which comprises a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontalmovement, means on the carriage for supporting an empty core in verticalposition, and means o-n the carriage for engaging a full core on thespindle and removing the full core from the spindle upon upward movementof the carriage.

2. A doiiing and donning apparatus for use with a textile machine havinga row of spindles adapted to rotatecores mounted thereon to wind yarn onthe cores, which comprises a carriage mounted for Vertical andhorizontal movement, means' on the carriage for supporting a pluralityof empty cores in parallel vertical arrangement, the cores in thesupporting means being spaced a distance equal to the spacing betweenadjacent spindles on the machine, and means on the carriage for engaginga plurality of full cores on the spindles and removing the full coresfrom the spindles upon upward movement of the carriage.

3. A dofling and donning apparatus for use with a textile machine havinga spindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarn on thecore, which comprises a carriage, means for supporting the carriage forvertical and horizontal movement, means on the carriage for supportingan empty core in vertical position, and means on the carriage forremoving a full core from the spindle upon upward movement of thecarriage, said removing means including members engageable with the yarn-mass on the full core from beneath.

4. A doiiing and donning apparatus for use with a textile machine havinga spindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarn on thecore, which comprises a carriage, means for supporting the carriage forvertical and horizontal movement, means on the carriage for supportingan empty core in vertical position, means on the carriage for engaging afull core on the spindle and removing the full core from the spindleupon upward movement of the carriage, and means on the carriage abovethe core engaging and removing means for supporting the full coreremoved from the spindle.

5. A dofdng and donning apparatus for use with a textile machine havinga spindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarn on thecore, which comprises a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontalmovement, the carriage having top and bottom walls with alignedopenings, means on the carriage for supporting an empty core in verticalposition, and means on the carriage Abelow the bottom wall for engaginga full core on the spindle, when the latter lies within the openings,and removing the full core from the spindle upon upward movement of thecarriage.

6. A dofing and donning apparatus for use with a textile machine havinga spindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarn on thecore, which comprises a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontalmovement', means on the carriage for supporting an empty core invertical position, and means on the carriage for engaging a full core onthe spindle and removing the full core from the spindle upon upwardmovement of the carriage, said engaging and removing means including apair of parallel bars mounted for movement toward and away from oneanother and biased toward one another.

7. A doiiing and donning apparatus for use with amen atextilemachinehaving a row of spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon to windyarn on the cores, which comprises aY-magazine for storing empty ycoressideby side, a' carriage lmounted for vertical vand horizontal movement,means for holding the magazine and` carriage in xed relation, means onthe carriage for supporting a plurality of `emptycores in parallelvertical Varrangement, means o-perable to remove a plurality of coresfrom the magazine and r,transfer them to the supporting means on thecarriage, and means on the carriage for engaging a plurality f fullcores on the spindles and removing the full cores from the spindles uponupward movement of the carriage.

8. A dong and donning apparatus for use with a textile machine having arow of spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon to wind yarn onthe cores, which comprises a .magazine for storing empty cores side byside, a carriage mounted for Vertical and horizontal movement, means forholding the magazine and carriage in xed relation, means yon thecarriage for supporting a plurality of empty cores in parallel verticalarrangement, means mounted adjacent the magazine and operable to removea plurality of cores from the magazine and transfer them to thesupporting means on the carriage, and means on the carriage for engaginga plurality of full cores on the spindles and removing the full coresfrom the spindles upon upward movement of the carriage.

9 A dofngand donning apparatus for use with a textile machine having a,rowof spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon to wind yarn onthe cores, which comprises a magazine for storing empty cores side byside, a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontal movement, lmeansfor holding the magazine and carriage in xed relation, means on thecarriage Vfor supporting a plurality of empty cores in parallel verticalarrangement, a member mounted adjacent the fmagazine and provided withmeans for engaging a plurality of empty cores in the magazine, the

vmember being movable to transfer the cores from the magazine to thesupporting means on the carriage, and means on the carriage for engaginga plurality of full cores on the spindles and removing the full coresfrom the spindles upon upward movement of the carriage. Y

1'0. A doiing and donning apparatus for use with a textile machinehaving a row of spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon to windyarn on the cores, which comprises a carriage mounted in front of themachine for movement lengthwise of the machine,vertically, and towardand away from the machine, supporting means on the Vcarriage for holdinga plurality of empty cores in parallel. vertical arrangement, the coresbeing held in a plurality of series with .the cores in :each seriesspaced a distance equal to the spacing of the spindles and the cores inearch series having their lower ends in ahorizontal plane oiset from theplane in which the lower ends of the cores in any other series lie, andmeans on `the carriage for engaging a plurality of full cores on thespindles and removing the full `cores from the spindles upon upwardmovement of the carriage. 1l. A dofiing and .donning apparatus for usewith a textile machine havinga row of spindles adapted to rotate coresmounted thereon to wind yarnA on the .'cores, which comprises Ia trackdis-y posed in front of the machine and above the level, of .thespindles, acarriage, means, movable along the track, from which 'the`carriage issuspended for vertical andchorizontal movement,

means on the carriage for supporting a, plurality of empty coresin-parallel vertical arrangement, and means on the carriage for engaging4a plurality of full cores von the spindles and removing the full coresfrom the spindles upon upward movement of the carriage. 1

12. A dofling and Adonning apparatus for use with a textile machinehaving a, row of spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon toWind yarn on the cores, which comprises a truck movable along the frontof the machine, -a carriage mounted on the truck for vertical andhorizontal movement, means on the carriage for supporting a plurality orempty coresin parallel vertical alignment, and means on the carriage forengaging la plurality Yof full cores on the spindles and removing thefull cores from rthe spindles upon upward movement of the carriage.

13. A doiiing and donning apparatus for use with aV textile lmachinehaving a row of spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon t0 windyarn on the cores,rwhich comprises a truck movable along the front ofvthe machine, a carriage mounted on the truck for vertical andhorizontal movement, means on the carriage for supporting a plurality ofempty coresV in parallel vertical alignment, means for engagingaplurality of full cores on the spindles and removing the full cores fromthe spindles upon upward movement ofthe carriage, a magazine for emptycores mounted on the truck, and. means on the truck for withdrawing agroup of cores from the magazine and vertical arrangement, and means onthe carriage for engaging a plurality of full cores on the spin-r dlesand removing the full cores from the spindles upon vertical movement ofthe carriage.

.15. In a dofiing and donning apparatus for use wlth a textilemaohine'having a spindle adapted Y to rotate a core mounted thereon towind yarn on the core, a carriage provided with a support adapted tohold an empty core in vertical position, and a pair of parallel `barsmounted on the carriage to swing onhorizontal pivots, the bars beingbiased toward one another and being separable to receive between them afull core on thespindle. Y

16. In a doiiinganddonning apparatus for use witha vtextile machinehaving a spindle adapted to rotate acore mounted thereon to wind yarn onthe core, a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontal movement, meanson the carriage for supporting an empty core V4in vertical position,

means on the carriage for engaging a full corel on the spindleandremoving the full core from the spindle upon upward-movement .of thecarriage, and means von thecarriage for receiving the full core on thespindle and supporting it after its removal from the spindle.

` 17. In adoiling and donning apparatus for use with a textile machinehavingk aspindleadapted to rotate a core mounted thereonv to wind yarnon the core, a carriage mounted for vertical yand horizontal movement,the carriage having vertically aligned openings large enough to receivea full core, means on the carriage for supporting an empty core invertical position, and means on the carriage beneath said openings forengaging a full core on the spindle, when the full core lies within theopenings, and removing the full core from the spindle upon upwardmovement of the carriage.

18. In a dofng and donning apparatus for use with a textile machinehaving a spindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarnon the core, a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontal movement,spaced means en the carriage for receiving and supporting a full core,means on the carriage below said spaced means for engaging a full coreon the spindle, when the full core is received within said spaced means,and removing the full `core from the spindle upon upward movement of thecarriage, and means on the carriage for supporting an empty core inposition to be mounted on the spindle u pon downward movement of thecarriage.

19. In a dofng and donning apparatus for use with a textile machinehaving e, row of spindles adapted to rotate cores mounted thereon towind yarn on the cores, a carriage mounted for vertical and horizontalmovement, means on the carriage for receiving and supporting a row offull cores, means on the carriage for engaging a plurality of full coreson the' spindles, when the full cores are within said receiving andsupporting means, :and removing the full cores from the spindles uponupward movement of the carriage, and means on the carriage forsupporting a row of empty cores in position to be mounted on thespindles upon downward movementlof the oarriage.

20. In a do-fng and donning apparatus for use with a textile machinehaving a spindle adapted to rotate a core mounted thereon to wind yarnon the core, a carriage mounted for vertical movevment, means on thecarriage for engaging a

